How close to the real thing?

Pubul57, it gets tricky talking about different powered versions of particular amp types, it's almost a how long is a piece of string conversation!

Theoretically the higher powered amp SHOULD be better because its power supply needs to be bigger, and it is working more within its limits. Unfortunately, manufacturers change a whole lot of things going for bigger power, and quite often these are backwards steps in terms of maintaining quality. For example, a small amp may be fully hard wired with very direct connection paths. The bigger unit is made up of modules, with wiring harnesses with push on connectors for ease of manufacture, and bang, there goes your quality in one hit! In other words, the actual quality of the engineering of the particular component is far, far more important that the nominal power rating.

A 60 watt amp and 89dB sensitive speaker will do a very, very nice job IF everything is optimised, and the amp does produce genuinely clean 60 watts -- class A is a relatively easy engineering way to do this, of course.

Frank

Any way that you look at it, High power matched with high effiency speakers will produce dynamics. And back to the ops original question, Dynamics go along way toward making a convincing presentation.
and Fas42, I have found on large scale music that room size does matter in reproducing that large sound stage. Maybe its just me not figuring out in 30 years how to set up a system in a smaller room, but I definately get a wider more natural presentation on large scale music in a larger room. Granted, the largest room I have experience in is about 20x30 ft (6.25x9.25 meters), but on large scale music, I have definately experienced a larger sound stage. My current room is 14.5x22 ft and it does a wonderful job with small scale recordings, but I haven't been able to duplicate some of the large scale stuff that I have heard in the past with the same recordings.
Cone mass & power also matter in larger rooms. If I understood what Weseixas was saying?

Hello Timlub,

Yes that is correct...

regards,

Timlub, as notes of interest I have had almost the same number of years as yourself wrestling with this bizarre and at times excrutiatingly frustrating "addiction", and also my room is almost a perfect size match to yours.

For me, when the system is working correctly, i.e., low levels of distortion, the auditory experience is that the end wall completely dissolves and the room becomes attached to the location where the recording was made, the "window" experience, I guess. If a large scale orchestral, then exactly if one were sitting in a private stall in the concert hall. It is no longer that of a musical event in a room, the sensation is that the whole house has somehow been transported and is sitting next to where the musical event is happening, and is a mere extension to the "soundstage". Very hard to get to happen, but very much worth it!

Frank